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Religion

Japanese religion has traditionally been syncretic in nature, combining elements of Buddhism and Shinto (Shinbutsu-sh?g?).[28] Shinto, a polytheistic religion with no book of religious canon, is Japan's native religion. Shinto was one of the traditional grounds for the right to the throne of the Japanese imperial family, and was codified as the state religion in 1868 (State Shinto), but was abolished by the American occupation in 1945. Mahayana Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century and evolved into many different sects. Today, the largest form of Buddhism among Japanese people is the J?do Shinsh? sect founded by Shinran.[29]

A large majority of Japanese people profess to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism.[30][31][32] Japanese people's religion functions mostly as a foundation for mythology, traditions, and neighborhood activities, rather than as the single source of moral guidelines for one's life.[]

Arts

Decorative arts in Japan date back to prehistoric times. J?mon pottery includes examples with elaborate ornamentation. In the Yayoi period, artisans produced mirrors, spears, and ceremonial bells known as d?taku. Later burial mounds, or kofun, preserve characteristic clay haniwa, as well as wall paintings.

Beginning in the Nara period, painting, calligraphy, and sculpture flourished under strong Confucian and Buddhist influences from China. Among the architectural achievements of this period are the H?ry?-ji and the Yakushi-ji, two Buddhist temples in Nara Prefecture. After the cessation of official relations with the Tang dynasty in the ninth century, Japanese art and architecture gradually became less influenced by China. Extravagant art and clothing was commissioned by nobles to decorate their court, and although the aristocracy was quite limited in size and power, many of these pieces are still extant. After the T?dai-ji was attacked and burned during the Genpei War, a special office of restoration was founded, and the T?dai-ji became an important artistic center. The leading masters of the time were Unkei and Kaikei.[]

In theater, Noh is a traditional, spare dramatic form that developed in tandem with ky?gen farce. In stark contrast to the restrained refinement of noh, kabuki, an "explosion of color", uses every possible stage trick for dramatic effect. Plays include sensational events such as suicides, and many such works were performed in both kabuki and bunraku puppet theaters.[]

Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has absorbed elements of Western culture and has given them a "Japanese" feel or modification into it. Its modern decorative, practical and performing arts works span a spectrum ranging from the traditions of Japan to purely Western modes. Products of popular culture, including J-pop, J-rock, manga and anime have found audiences and fans around the world.

After World War II, Kotondo Hasebe and Hisashi Suzuki claimed that the origin of Japanese people was not newcomers in the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 300 CE) but the people in the J?mon period.[44] However, Kazuro Hanihara announced a new racial admixture theory in 1984[44] and a "dual structure model" in 1991.[45] According to Hanihara, modern Japanese lineages began with J?mon people, who moved into the Japanese archipelago during Paleolithic times from their homeland in southeast Asia, followed by a second wave of immigration, from northeast Asia to Japan during the Yayoi period. Following a population expansion in Neolithic times, these newcomers then found their way to the Japanese archipelago sometime during the Yayoi period. As a result, admixture was common in the island regions of Ky?sh?, Shikoku, and Honsh?, but did not prevail in the outlying islands of Okinawa and Hokkaid?, and the Ryukyuan and Ainu people continued to dominate there. Mark J. Hudson claims that the main ethnic image of Japanese people was biologically and linguistically formed from 400 BCE to 1,200 CE.[44] Currently, the most well-regarded theory is that present-day Japanese are descendants of both the indigenous J?mon people and the immigrant Yayoi people.

J?mon people

Some of the world's oldest known pottery pieces were developed by the J?mon people in the Upper Paleolithic period, dating back as far as 16,000 years. The name "J?mon" ( J?mon) means "cord-impressed pattern", and comes from the characteristic markings found on the pottery. The J?mon people were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, though at least one middle to late J?mon site (Minami Mizote (), ca. 1200-1000 BC) had a primitive rice-growing agriculture. They relied primarily on fish for protein.

Researchers suggests that the Ainu retain a certain degree of uniqueness in their genetic make-up, while having some affinities with other regional populations in Japan as well as with the Nivkhs of the Russian Far East.

Mark J. Hudson posits that Japan was settled by a Paleo-Mongoloid population in the Pleistocene who became the J?mon, and that their features can be seen in the Ainu and Ryukyuan people.[48] The J?mon shared some physical characteristics, such as relatively abundant body hair and light skin, with Caucasians, but anthropological genetics shows them to derive from a separate genetic lineage from that of Europeans.[49]

Yayoi people

Beginning around 300 BC, the Yayoi people entered the Japanese islands and displaced or intermingled with the J?mon. The Yayoi brought wet-rice farming and advanced bronze and iron technology to Japan. The more productive paddy field systems allowed the communities to support larger populations and spread over time, in turn becoming the basis for more advanced institutions and heralding the new civilization of the succeeding Kofun period.

The estimated population of Japan in the late J?mon period was about one hundred thousand, compared to about three million by the Nara period. Taking the growth rates of hunting and agricultural societies into account, it is calculated that about one and half million immigrants moved to Japan in the period.[]

Colonialism

Location of Imperial Japan

During the Japanese colonial period of 1895 to 1945, the phrase "Japanese people" was used to refer not only to residents of the Japanese archipelago, but also to people from colonies who held Japanese citizenship, such as Taiwanese people and Korean people. The official term used to refer to ethnic Japanese during this period was "inland people" (,naichijin). Such linguistic distinctions facilitated forced assimilation of colonized ethnic identities into a single Imperial Japanese identity.[50]

Citizenship

Article 10 of the Constitution of Japan defines the term "Japanese" based upon Japanese nationality.[52] The concept of "ethnic groups" in Japanese census statistics differs from the concept applied in many other countries. For example, the United Kingdom Census queries the respondent's "ethnic or racial background", regardless of nationality.[53] The Japanese Statistics Bureau, however, asks only about nationality in the census. Because the census equates nationality with ethnicity, its figures erroneously assume that naturalized Japanese citizens and Japanese nationals with multi-ethnic backgrounds are ethnically Japanese.[]John Lie, Eiji Oguma, and other scholars problematize the widespread belief that Japan is ethnically homogeneous, arguing that it is more accurate to describe Japan as a multiethnic society,[54][55] although such claims have long been rejected by conservative elements of Japanese society such as former Japanese Prime Minister Tar? As?, who once described Japan as being a nation of "one race, one civilization, one language and one culture".[56]

^Mariko Kato (February 24, 2009). "Christianity's long history in the margins". The Japan Times. The Christian community itself counts only those who have been baptized and are currently regular churchgoers -- some 1 million people, or less than 1 percent of the population, according to Nobuhisa Yamakita, moderator of the United Church of Christ in Japan